Improvement in cotton-cultivators



R. A; VICK.

, Shovel Plow.

No. 18,478. Patented Oct. 20, 1857.

AM. PNOTO-LITHO. C). N.Y. (OSIDRIE'S PROCESS) UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

R. A. VIOK, OF BYHALIA, MISSISSIPPI.

IMPROVEMENT lN COTTON-CULTIVATORS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 18,478, dated October 20, 1857- To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, RANsoM A. VIOK, of Byhalia, in the county of Marshall and State of Mississippi, have invented a new and Improved Ootton-Scraper; and 1 do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification- Fignre 1 being a plan of the scraper; Fig. 2, a longitudinal vertical section thereof in the plane indicated by the line a: m, Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a front elevation of the same, the scraping plate or blade being removed to show parts otherwise hidden Fig. 4, a transverse section in the plane indicated by the line y y, Fig. 1; Fig. 5, a view of the under side of the beam detached.

Like letters designate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Cotton-scrapers of the kind on which mine is an improvement are ordinarily constructed of a wooden block with the scraping blade or plate and the beam and handles secured thereto. Being made almost entirely of wood, they are not only soon worn out, but require strong exertion on the part of the holder to keep them on the surface of the ground on account of their tendency to plow deeply into the earth, and were it not for these objections their cheapness and simplicity of construction, as well as their efficiency of action, would render them a desirable kind of implement.

The object of my invention is to obviate the objections to and retain the advantages of the said scrapers now in use.

The block I construct with three pieces of cast-iron formed and combined in the following manner: The principal piece E composes the bottom, back, and two sides of the block, and upon the top thereof is placed the second piece, D, which is kept in the right position by small ledges mm fitting against the inner edges of the sides of the principal piece or body E, and by two projcctions,ff, Fig. 1, extending from the sides of the said body E upward into corresponding notches or apertures in the said top piece, substantially as represented. The third piece, G, is situated across the open front of the body E, at the top thereof, being held in place by projections i i at its ends fitting into corresponding notches in the sides of the body. Three rods or bolts, a b c, passing through the block in directions nearly at right angles to each other, and secured by nuts and screws in manner shown, not only confine the different parts of the block together, but also serve to unite the beam A, handles B B, and scrapingblade 0 to the block. The beam is secured to the block by means of the vertical bolt a, there being on the top piece, D, a projection, g, Fig. 2, which enters a hole, h, Fig. 5, in the bottom of the beam, near the rear end thereof, and thus secures the beam from turning horizontally on the block. Byemploying a set of holes, h h h, in the under side of the beam, as seen in Fig. 5, the relative direction of the beam on the block may be varied. The handles B B extend down through apertures in the top piece, D, and their lower ends enter notches or depressions in the bottom of the body E of the block, there being a ledge, (I, cast on the bottom to produce them, substantially as shown. The transverse rod b passes through the handles and retains them securely in place. The blade is secured in front of the block by the longitudinal rod 0, which also passes through an aperture, l, in the front bar, G, in the manner shown, whereby the blade is held firmly and immovably in place. There may be two or more holes in the blade 0 or bar G, or in both, for the purpose of adjusting the blade to different positions. The block tapers somewhat from the front backward on the side next to the rows upon which the cultivation is proceeding, in order that the 5 oun g plants may not be injured by contact therewith.

The scraper thus constructed is very durable, and is also of very easy and comparatively cheap construction, the chief cost being the materials of which it is made. The weight, which should be somewhere about fiftypounds, is sufficient to counterbalance the tendency of the blade to draw the block beneath the surface of the ground, and thus to render the guiding of the implement very easy.

What I claim as my invention is- The construction and arrangement of the body E, top piece, D, and front bar, G, so as to be firmly and conveniently combined, and so that three bolts will unite them together, and at the same time secure the handles, beam, and blade thereto,snbstantially in the manner specified.

The above specification of my improved cotton-scraper signed by me this 1st day of June, 1857. 1;? MT";

Witnesses: It. A. VIGK.

GEORGE B. MYERS, THos. B. WEBBER. 

